Chickens were first tempted down from trees by rice, research suggests

Chickens used to be tempted down from the trees and into domestication.

One billion chickens are slaughtered in the UK alone each year, making chicken one of the most popular foods in the world. The birds are a relatively new addition to our farms according to a new study.

Humans did not come into close contact with chickens until about 1500 BC, according to a new report.

The age of the earliest chickens was established using carbon dating. Most of the bones were from a long time ago.

This is the first time that radiocarbon dating has been used to determine the significance of chickens. The clearest picture of our early interactions with chickens can be seen from our results.

Chickens, native to the tropical jungles of south-east Asia, did not arrive in Europe until about 800 BC. After arriving in the Mediterranean region, it took almost a thousand years for chickens to be established in the cold climates of Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia.

Chicken remains were re-examined in more than 600 locations. The oldest bones of a chicken were found at the Neolithic Ban Non Wat in Thailand.

Humans came into contact with the jungle birds during dry rice farming, according to researchers. Chickens were tempted down from the trees by the rice.

The chickens were first transported across Asia and then throughout the Mediterranean on routes used by early Greek, Etruscan and Phoenician traders.

The re-evaluation of chickens shows how wrong we were in thinking about chicken domestication. The arrival of dry rice agriculture acted as a catalyst for both chicken domestication and its global dispersal.

Chickens were not originally domesticated for food. Chickens were often buried whole and unbutchered with their humans or even with their hens, according to earlier studies. During the Roman empire, chickens and their eggs were popular.

People think we have never eaten chickens because we eat them so frequently. Our evidence shows that our relationship with chickens was much more complicated than we thought.